Voyage of the Aqua Pirates
by alphapurpura
Summary: Akvo Kai, eater of the Mizu-Mizu no Mi and captain of the Aqua Pirates, has set out on a quest for the ultimate treasure: One Piece. Follow him and his growing crew as they sail around West Blue and eventually, the Grand Line. They'll go through fights, turmoil, and destruction, all to reach their respective dreams. Can they achieve them? Rated T for language, themes, and violence.
1. Episode 1: Strange Men on a Small Island

_Episode One: Strange Men on a Small Island_

The countryside around him was silent. He was situated on the island of Mazraea, a rather small island in West Blue. Said island was rural and poor, and most of its citizens did not go more than five hours away from where they were born and raised in his or her lifetime. The main occupation was farming wheat or rice; however, there was one somewhat-rural area that held two pubs, a hotel, and some markets that sold foreign things barely anyone could afford. This was considered the capital, and the people had named it Saghir.

Saghir had a very loose government, as in, just a yearly meeting between the ten richest members of the island. Nothing was really ever discussed, and the last major decision that had been made in the last one hundred years was the "country"'s choice to join the World Government.

Despite the world being in the middle of the Great Age of Pirates, no one on the island had ever seen a pirate, only heard about them through the wanted posters that the marines delivered. Most liked the marines, as they were nice and provided information from the world outside the small island. As were to everything, this rule had many exceptions-though the overwhelming majority agreed that the marines were beneficial to Mazraea Island.

That day was like any other in Saghir: the merchants were yelling for the richer to buy their goods, the pubs were the liveliest part of town, and the marines were prowling the streets, looking for the bandit group that went by the name of the Woodland Bandits, whom had recently become rather infamous. He was one of those marines, and was actually the highest ranking officer on the island at that point in time. After searching all day for those damned bandits, he called off the search until morning.

It was about dusk when his pack of marines strolled into the bar and seated themselves in the back. The pub was nearly empty, save an elderly couple eating peacefully at a table, and a man seated at the bar with a long black overcoat, hood pulled up. He, above the other marines, noticed the strange man, and was so focused on the mysterious presence the man had, that he failed to notice that the waitress had come over to get their liquor orders.

"Oh sorry ma'am," he apologized as his friends snickered behind his back, "I'll just have some sake." The woman smiled and trotted off, his having been the last order she needed.

A friendly chatter had started up among the sailors around the marine, talking of which he did not partake in. His attention had been drawn back to the mysterious man, who the bartender (a portly man with a handlebar mustache) seemed to talk to familiarity. The marine would normally dismiss this, as it seemed to be a normal reaction between two friends. He just couldn't shake the idea that maybe, just maybe, that man in the overcoat should not be overlooked.

"Oi, Captain!" One of the soldiers called out as the marine stood and walked to the bar. He ignored the call, and sat next to the mysterious man. He held up his hand when the bartender offered a drink.

"Excuse me, sir, but could I ask your name?" The marine asked the other man.

"Akvo Kai." The man said shortly, taking a long swig of his sake after doing so.

"Well Akvo-san, can I ask for your occupation?" The marine pressed on.

"Travel."

"Oh, that's an interesting profession. Have you been in it long?"

"No." Kai replied shortly.

"Is travel all you do?" The cloaked man grunted in affirmation, taking another swig. "Nothing else interests you?"

There was a pause, wherein Kai seemed to be contemplating. Then, "What's it to you, Navy?"

"Oh? Can I not just ask a mysterious man, whom I've never seen in this town before, his profession?" The bartender placed a glass of sake in front of the marine captain, then glanced worriedly at Kai, and started cleaning some glasses with a rag.

"I'm not whoever you're looking for, I can assure you." Kai said, anger flaring a bit as he turned towards the marine captain. Caramel-colored eyes blazed from under the hood of the cloak. "So get off my back."

The marine narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know I was looking for somebody?"

Kai scoffed. "That's all you marines do!" He finished off his glass, and slammed it down onto the bar. "This is a completely useless and ridiculous conversation. I'm leaving."

"I'd advise against that..." A hand landed on Kai shoulder, and was shrugged off almost immediately. Kai got up, leaving his cup and a couple beli to pay for his drinks, and trudged to the door with a dramatic wave of his cloak from the motion (though his hood never fell off). The marine got up and quickly, easily, caught his arm.

"Akvo-san, if you walk away I will have my men arrest you under the suspicion of being one of the bandits," the hand around Kai's arm tightened, as if attempting to threaten the man through sheer contact, "I, Captain Eagle-Eye Jason, believe you to be one of them."

Kai yanked his arm out of the grasp of the other and pushed open the pub door. With his hand still on the door, with words that were barely heard, he said words that would stick with Captain Jason and his men, and even go so far as to haunt them. "I'm a pirate, just you try and make me, Navy."

By the time the marine captain followed through the door, Kai was gone.

%•%•%•%

Down in the cellar of the only hotel in town, a man with pure golden hair, golden skin, golden earrings, blackened (but richly-made) clothes, and deep navy blue eyes leaned against the wall. He was currently hired as a bodyguard for a very greedy bandit leader in a small island in West Blue, Mazraea. The man, known to the hired bodyguard as Kokoan-san, had started being hunted by the marines and, seeing how his men were weak, had hired Kōjō Raion as his personal bodyguard.

Raion did not care whom he was hired by and would be loyal to a fault, as long as his boss kept supplementing the funds. This boss, however, was testing his limits of patience. Especially right then.

"Sit down, relax, Kōjō-san! Let the beer do its thing..." Said boss drawled lazily, sitting on a couch with his arms spread out and over the shoulders of two busty, scantily-clothed women, who to Raion, seemed to have little brain function. His legs were spread, and he held a half-empty wine bottle in his scarred hand. All around the room there were Kokoan-san's men, being loud and destructive due to their alcohol-induced minds. The room smelled of booze, and judging by the cries and songs issuing from around the room, Raion knew that all of the men in that room, except for himself, were incapable of protecting their boss.

Raion hated this room, detested actually, but knew that though his boss insisted he enjoy himself each time he was told to guard this room, Raion knew he must not. Kokoan-san was his most vulnerable in this room, falling prey to the alluring urge to drink his cares and pains away. Raion had to be at the top of his form.

Raion's senses suddenly snapped him out of his thought. Distant sounds were coming from upstairs-screams, feet stomping, and something different... He found it odd that his acute hearing couldn't identify the sound.

"Come on, Kōjō-san~ come have some-"

"Be on guard Kokoan-san." Raion said flatly, listening intently to the steadily-growing noises. "I sense enemies."

The boss sobered up a bit. "Then what are you waiting for? Go do what you're paid to do."

"Hai." Raion silently opened the door, and exited the room. He dashed down the cold hallway and up the stone steps, then opened the door from the cellar to the main hotel, only to come face-to-face with at least five marine guns pointed at his temple.

"Well well...the "Golden Mercenary", Kōjō Raion." Said a marine lieutenant from behind his men with guns. "What brings the infamous hired assassin to this small island in West Blue?"

Raion kept his face neutral, but on the inside was racking his mind of whether or not he'd met this marine before. "Ah, have we met, sir?"

"No need to call him sir, criminal. We know you're working for our target, Kokoan the Bandit! We're here to arrest him for his crimes, and you for associating with him!" Yelled one of the marine privates with guns.

Raion couldn't resist a smirk. "You drivel, arrest _me?_ I'd like to see you try..." Raion lowered himself into a fighting stance, one of the throwing knives he kept hidden up his sleeves sliding down into his left hand. He tensed, waiting for his opponents' move.

They attacked him all at once, and Raion was forced to drop to the ground and roll forwards to avoid all the bullets. He slit a man's ankle, then stood up properly and cut a man's nose off. While the four remaining marines recovered, Raion flicked his wrists in such a way as to make two more knives slide down his sleeves on his left arm and three slide down on his right. He gripped each knife in the crook between two fingers on each of his hands. He grinned, glad to have his "claws" back between his capable fingers.

The guns were pointed at him and firing again, and Raion flew forward. He danced around the three marines holding and attempting to fire guns, making seemingly-random slashes in the air around their bodies. He crouched once he'd finished, and smiled again, this time with a somewhat feral-like sneer. " **Flying Lion's Strike.** " He said clearly.

The marines' necks, arms, and torsos suddenly started intensely bleeding as slash wounds started opening all at once. All three men collapsed with gasps and cries of pain, and Raion stood and faced the only remaining marine. The lieutenant.

"You're as good as the rumors say." The marine commented, looking down at his fallen and dying comrades with a sigh. "Too bad, they were quite good, too..."

Raion pointed his clawed left fist at the marine. "Surrender now and I might make your death painless." He said coolly. The marine narrowed his eyes, hand reaching for a sword on his hip.

"Don't give me that shit," he spat, "mercenaries kill anyone threatening their mission. Isn't that right?"

Raion deemed it unnecessary to reply, and jumped forward and slashed the man's thighs and calves, making him stumble to his knees in agony at the sharp pains. Raion raised his clawed right fist to stab through the marine's throat, but was halted by another voice.

"Not so fast." It exclaimed, the owner walking into view from behind a set of double doors. The man that had spoken was hidden beneath a dark, black cloak. All Raoin could make of him was that cloak. The cloaked figure raised a finger and pointed at Raoin's chest. "You, I want you."

Raion raised his eyebrow at the finger that had been extended at him after the man spoke. "Oh? And who might you be?"

"Akvo Kai, captain of the Aqua Pirates." The man said a bit wistfully, then lowered his hand. "I want you on my crew, you've more than proven yourself to be part of the Aqua Pirates."

* * *

 _Hello, and welcome to Voyage of the Aqua Pirates. This story is just a spawn of me catching up on One Piece the other day. I hope you like it, and all the chapters will be about as long as this one, I promise. I'm thinking anywhere from two to three thousand words. That seems to be about the average length for a fanfic's chapters._

 _Anyhow, I must say I'm extremely excited for this story. I'm planning to update every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday since that fits well into my schedule. I have some of the story planned out already, and all of the members on the crew. I also have the main antagonist, and the marine captain, Jason, that's mentioned in this chapter...but that's about it on the marine front. Suggestions are extremely welcomed._

 _Another note, if you see any mistakes in any of my chapters, whether it be in this one or a future one, please point it out to me. I need all the help I can get! And if you are wondering why I entered this story as "M", I'm accounting for the future use of vulgar language, action/fighting scenes, and adult content.  
_

 _Again, thank you for reading. Tune in next time, and until then, stay snazzy!_


	2. Episode 2: I am No Pirate! Raion vs Kai!

_Episode Two: I am No Pirate! Raion vs. Kai!_

The three men in the room were silent after the mysterious man's outburst. Both Raion and the lieutenant were confused about Kai's outburst, but the marine brushed it off quickly. Silently, during the confusion, he reached for his sword, and was about to unsheathe it when he noticed that Raion was watching his movements with a dangerously-feral look in his eye. The marine flinched away from the taller man.

"Whoops, seems I got distracted from my prey..." Raion said, a dark smirk spreading across his face as he bent over so his face was brought closer to the marine's. The marine bent backwards, a look of fear crossing his features as Raion's "claws" pressed into the tender skin of his jugular. "I'm going to kill you."

The marine gulped as Raion gauged his reaction. "P-please, consider what y-you're doing! If you kill me, you'll be targeted by the entirety of the marines! I'm not just some low-ranking pfficial, you see! I'm a lieutenant under the direct command of Captain Eagle-Eye Jason, who, believe it or not, is on this very island and waiting for me to report back from this mission! If I don't respond, he'll come here and find out what's happe-"

Raion smirked, then stabbed the marine's neck, watching as the subject of his knives. He watched the life leave the man's eyes, making sure his prey was dead, then stood up straight again. He brought his knives out of the meaty flesh, then let the limp body fall to the ground with a thud. Raion stepped away from said body, and turned his attention to the other man in the room.

Said man was shorter than Raion, looking to be only about 5"8 whereas he was about six foot. The cloak covered his body and his face, leaving all but height and gender up to the imagination. He also wore black gloves, and what looked to be black, lace up boots of some kind (the cloak obscured them somewhat). The man, it seemed, had calmly watched Raion kill the marine without speaking up once.

"And you. What do you want with me?" He asked stoically, looking the man up and down again. Kai spoke up after Raion had concentrated on his shaded face again.

"Are you really not concerned about the immanent death that has been laid upon our heads?" Kai asked humorously.

Raion looked calmly over at Kai. "I see no reason to fear a threat that won't come. I highly suspect that the pest was stretching the truth a bit about Captain Jason's acquaintance with him, as Jason left the island this morning on urgent business."

"You knew that?"

"Oh yes, don't underestimate a mercenary's information gathering skills."

Kai smiled from under his hood in consent. "So, he was making a bluff, then?"

"You could say that. Now, what do you want with me again? I must say, I was a bit distracted before."

"I'm a recruiting captain, and I want you on my crew." He reiterated what he'd said earlier. "Sorry if I was abrupt earlier, but I do want you to join me."

Raion hummed, and lifted his chin into the air. "I'm a mercenary, not a rogue-I kill and protect for hire, not of my own will. And I am definitely no pirate." While saying this he started to clean his knives of the blood, on the edge of his black shirt. Once finished, he withdrew all but one into his suit's coat sleeves.

The cloaked man was quiet, then..."You're skilled with those throwing knives of yours-and yet you don't even throw them. If I'm to become King, I need only the most skilled on my crew." This was said simply and calmly, as if it was an obvious fact that every person should know already.

"The compliment is welcomed, but there is no reason to join you. You're not offering money, and again I'll emphasize, I am a hired man. Money is the only thing that drives me." Raion said stoically. "Besides, I really should be getting back to my boss, who is paying me. Get in my way again, and I will have to kill you for the safety of my boss." He turned, and started walking towards the stairs leading downwards.

Kai stopped him, however, by surprising him. "You don't have any other dreams, anything you want to accomplish in life?"

Raion did not let his surprise show, nor did he turn around, but he did stop. "What significance would it bring to your life to know if I have dreams? You're a pirate that I've only just met, and on top of that, never heard of before now. I've no interest in joining you."

"I think I can make you change your mind." The man behind him said simply. Raion turned his head and lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh? Are you attempting to bargain with the "Golden Mercenary"?"

"You could call it that, but I see it more as a deal. I know what you want most in this world, and the reason behind your saving up money." The man replied bluntly as Raion turned back around.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Raion scoffed openly, flicking bangs out of his eyes.

"You want a devil fruit." The sentence hung in the air, it being dropped so suddenly and so confidently that it caught even Raion off guard. He soon recovered his composure, however, and narrowed his eyes.

"What did you say?" Raion asked aggressively.

"It was simple to see through your attacks-your spins, the way you used your knives, even your attack name. You're practically half-feline already, but you want to take it to the next level. Am I right?"

Raion stayed silent but stared at the man with a openly-hostile expression. No one had noticed before what he'd tied his attacks to, and what he'd been training his body to do for years. This man was a threat, and a big one at that.

"Sorry, but I can't let you live after that comment." Raion said instead of a reply, his knives slipping back down his sleeves with two flicks of his wrists, and he stood in the same stance he'd stood in before the marines attacked in. "Those words will be the death of you, and for that you should be sorry."

Kai lifted his chin, in such a way that Raion could make out a faint smirk on the man's lips. "If it's a fight that you desire you want, I shall fight you. But be warned, if I win I want you to join my crew, mercenary."

Raion frowned. "And if I win, I get to take your head."

Kai smiled and reached his gloved hand across his body. He grabbed the other side of his cloak, then pulled it off in one swift movement. As it went billowing behind him, Raion observed his opponent for the first time.

He did indeed stand at a short stature, but his boots made him a little taller. He wore black jeans, and a long, blue, baggy and worn shirt over his chest. He threw off his gloves and they landed on top of his cloak. His features were completely what Raion did not expect. He had slightly shaggy blue hair, and the longest strands fell just to the ends of his ears. His light caramel eyes twinkled with some unknown emotion, and his lightly freckled cheeks were turned upwards in a playful smirk.

"I look different than you thought?" Kai asked playfully. "I assure you that I'm way stronger than I look."

"I'll admit you're younger than I thought, but I still hold a kid like you to a promise. Shall we begin?"

"Whenever you're ready." Kai said, getting into a loose defensive stance. No sooner had he done so, than Raion had disappeared and reappeared right in front of him. Kai had to completely bend backwards to avoid a three-pronged fist straight into his heart. He brought up a foot to kick the fist away, then placed his hand on the ground and flipped over so he was kneeling on the ground.

Kai considered his opponent as he did the same. Raion was rubbing his wrist, smirking down at Kai's kneeling form. "Quite some kick you have there."

"Indeed." Kai conceded, "and a nice speed that you have. I see that I won't have to hold back while fighting you!" Kai laughed. "This'll be my first real fight in a while!"

A knife was thrown at Kai's face, making a long, shallow slit across his face. It started bleeding, and Kai brought a curious hand up to his cheek, and touched the bloo trickling down his face between his fingers. He admired it wonderously. "So this is my blood, huh?"

"Am I the first to have drawn it? I find that surprising." Raion said calmly after firing another two knives. Kai dodged the first, and ran straight into the second, it taking a nice chunk of skin off of his arm. "Though you are quite young, and look to be fairly new at pirating."

Kai smirked, and slowly lowered his body into an offensive stance. "Don't underestimate the newbies, or it might come to bite you in the ass."

Raion also prepared a stance to attack with. "Then show me what you can do, Akvo Kai."

Raion launched forward, and Kai did the same. They met fists, and Raion's knifes sunk into...water? Kai smirked, and brought his other fist into Raion's face. Raion flew into the wall, and groaned as a red stream of blood started to trickle down his face. Kai sprinted over to his victim and threw most Raion's knives around the room, and kept to last one to point at his face. Kai smiled softly down at his newest crew member as he glared up at the wielder of his own weapon.

"Don't underestimate an opponent you don't know the ability of." Kai said casually. "Welcome to my crew, Kōjō Raion."

%•%•%•%

In the aftermath of the fight, while the adrenaline wore off, Kai helped Raion gather his knives, and then made sure the cut on his head was okay. Once this was done, Raion solemnly followed Kai out of the had reequipped his black cloak and gloves, along with getting his gashes from Raion's knives patched up thanks to his ability.

Before they had left, Raion had had to kill his boss and all of his men, to make sure that they could not leak any information out to the marines about him. Kai had watched it silently. However, while walking down the street, he attempted to start up a conversation with his silent nakama.

"So, about that dream you have..." Kai tried, glancing over at

"I will admit that I do have a fruit in mind that I might buy. What does it mean to a nobody-pirate like you?"

"Like I said before we fought, only the best should join the crew of the King. Plus, out on those seas, you're more likely to get the chance to get money-or even the fruit itself-than sitting here and working for some wanted bandit. I do, however, want to say one thing." Kai stopped, and turned to Raion. "We _will_ sail the seas together, and we will achieve both of our dreams, as well as our future nakamas'! What do you say to that?" He extended a hand, which was covered by that black glove.

Raion stared at the hand for a minute, then looked at the shrouded face of his captain. "I shall accept your request, on two conditions."

"Speak away." Kai said, a bit confused but, nonetheless, dropped his hand back to his side.

"One will be that I get my own room on the ship, so that I can have some alone time once and a while, as I'm not too used to human contact."

"That's reasonable, I'll accept. Second?"

"You, or any of our future crew mates, will not ask of my past." Raion stated. This time he was the one to hold out his hand. "If these conditions are met I'll stay loyal until the day you die. Deal?"

Kai, before accepting the hand, reached up and pulled back his hood. Those shaggy, Azure-blue locks and bright brown eyes were once again revealed to the world. The man in front of Raion smiled, and gladly shook the newly-turned-pirate's hand.

"I, Akvo Kai, accept and promise to keep these conditions on my pride as a pirate and as a captain. Welcome to my crew, Raion!"

* * *

 _Let me just start off by saying, I am so sorry for not posting this sooner! I have no excuse, besides the fact that this battle scene took a lot longer than I thought it would, and then I had to make a bunch of edits to the rest of the chapter. Again, I am sorry to you, my readers, for my blunder! I will 100% have the chapter for tomorrow up on time, though, so look forward to that!_

 _So I'll go into some more details surrounding the end of this chapter in the next one, but I kinda wanted it all to be in like a flashback-type setting in Raion's mind as Kai and Raion are sailing away from Mazraea and onto the next island._

 _And thank you, so much, for reading this story! If you see any grammatical errors, or something that just doesn't flow right, please tell me! As I said last chapter, I need all the help I can get on that front, and any little bit of help would help tremendously!_

 _With that, I'll end this author's note. Expect to see a chapter up tomorrow and, until then my friends, remember to stay snazzy!_


	3. Episode 3: A Man's Promise!

_Episode 3: A Man's Promise! Arrival at the Next Island!_

There was a lapse in conversation as the agreement settled between the two men. Raion eventually broke the silence as they started walking again. By that point they had reached near the end of the village.

"So you're my captain now, right?"

"Yessir you are!" Kai said happily.

"And I only know a little about our goals, and nothing about our crew."

Raion and Kai found a bar on the outskirts of the small town, and had started leisurely chatting and eating a meal that Kai had paid for in celebration of Raion's joining of the Aqua Pirates.

"Well my name's Akvo Kai, but you can just call me Kai or captain or whatever." Kai took a bite of his dish, some kind of delicious meat native to Mazraea, then chewed and swallowed. "As for nakama, we're the only ones. And our goals, to start it bluntly, are these-me becoming Pirate King, and now, getting you that devil fruit."

"We don't have a cook, a navigator or a doctor, or even a shipwright?" Raion asked, wanting to get the situation clear. With a nod from his caption, Raion leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "Our first priority should be to get a shipwright, or at least a ship. I can navigate us around West Blue, since I've been traveling for a while by myself, but once we reach the Grand Line on your goal to be King, we'll need a legitimate navigator. We also need to leave this island before we are caught, assuming my killing of that lieutenant will not go over so well with his superior, whether it be Eagle-Eye or otherwise."

"I've got a boat, though it's small and more of dingy. I just don't know how to navigate it-I'm actually a bit surprised I managed to reach this island, let alone any island. I'm not much of a directional expert, you see. I get lost somewhat easily."

"I see. Well, as long as we stay in West Blue, I should be able to get us along fine without a navigator. Regardless, we need both a navigator and a better ship-that's at least two more crewmates-before we can leave West Blue at all. The Grand Line is unforgiving and treacherous, so we might even need more crewmates..."

"Nakama." Kai corrected. "I call crewmates "nakama" because in order to have a functional crew, you must be comrades." He said, smiling and setting his fork down on his finished plate. "I do agree that we need some more nakama before we enter the Grand Line-it'd be stupid to go in the boat now, at the very least."

Raion stood up. "Shall we set sail then, captain?"

Kai stood up along with him, leaving a couple hundred Beli to pay for the meal. "Of course! Let's hit the next island as soon as possible and meet our next nakama!"

Raion gave his captain an exasperated yet curious look. "How could you possibly know if we'll find our next nakama on the next island?"

Kai hummed, and tapped his chin twice. "I don't know...I just have a feeling!" He laughed, getting a kick of amusement from Raion's annoyed expression. "Come on, let's get going already! I just can't sit still anymore!" He started walking towards the docks, an obvious spring in his step.

Raion followed behind his new captain, stuffing his hands in his suit's pants pockets. "Are you always this erratic?" He asked the man in front of him. Kai, instead of answering, turns his head and winks at Raion, then laughed at the confusion and vexation he received.

Raion rolled his eyes, and wondered how he was going to deal with such a hyperactive, young, and rage-inducing captain.

Kai's thoughts on this matter, on the other hand, were all centered around how excited he was to sail and become close nakama with Raion.

The duo were far from alike, but somehow they managed to navigate their way to a shop to buy supplies without killing each other (more Raion wanting to kill Kai for his annoying habits than the opposite). They stocked up for a two day journey, as Raion said that was approximately the time it'd take to the next island, and exited the shop with minimal threat.

Kai and Raion reached the docks and quickly after that and found the small fishing boat that Kai had used to get to Mazraea. They then loaded the supplies and themselves, and managed to set sail before nightfall, with both of them eager to leave the small and boring country.

Later that night, Raion was taking a break from navigating and was sitting and thinking about what he'd done to his former boss. He wasn't bothered by it, oh no, he'd killed plenty of men before, but the situation had puzzled him somewhat...

 _Raion walked down the steps after telling Kai to wait for him upstairs. He knew that if he left this island without informing Kokoan-san, the snake would plaster his name with a bad connotation across all types of media. Raion just did not desire that-he had been okay with a reputation of excellent and ruthless service, but not of abandoning a job midway._

 _So, he intended to clean up his mess._

 _Raion opened the door to the room, and took in the sight. All the raucous noise that had been coming from drunk men had subsided, because most of the men were passed out in various places around the room. Kokoan-san, however, raised his head. Raion immediately could tell he was drunk by the blush across his creeks and the smile spread across his face._

 _"Ooooooh, so you've returned...? It took you quite a whiiiiile..." His boss slurred, sloshing around a wine bottle that he had in his hand. "Hoooow'd it goo?"_

 _Raion stayed silent, but instead slipped a knife out of his sleeve. Kokoan did not seem to notice it, and continued slurring gibberish as Raion started walking towards him. Finally, he stopped in front of the sitting man, and the drunk seemed to notice that something was wrong._

 _"What's going ooon-" Kokoan was cut off as Raion stabbed the knife into his stomach. The bandit was startled, and coughed up blood as the knife punctured a lung._

 _"Sorry, Kokoan-san...You are no longer in need of my services..." Raion said softly into the dying man's ear while removing the knife._

 _He stood up straight as Kokoan slumped forward, and then Raion stepped away from the couch and started walking around the room. Every body he passed, he callously slit the throat and let the person bleed out while he moved on. The entire ordeal took no more than ten minutes, and once completed, Raion turned to a desk in the corner._

 _He walked to it and started looking for a map of West Blue and a compass; he'd need both if he were to be the temporary navigator for his crew. While he was looking, he heard an exhale and he looked up at the source: Kokoan._

 _"Still alive I see." Raion commented dryly._

 _"You...meant to...keep me alive..." Kokoan wheezed, "Purposefully missed...all the major organs...but the lungs..."_

 _Raion found what he was looking for, and stowed it away in his suit, handy for later. He walked back around from behind the desk and over to the front of the couch, twirling the knife by the circle at the end of the hilt. "Oh? Did I miss?"_

 _"Don't play...with me..." The bandit coughed up some blood. "You're just like...your mother..."_

 _Raion's eyes widened considerably, then narrowed in anger. "What are you talking about, swine?!"_

 _Kokoan laughed, light starting to leave his eyes. "I...knew your mother...it was a long...time ago,but I remember most of all..." Kokoan slowly closed his eyes, a small smile playing across his ugly features, "...was the smile and...then the pain that she gave...to someone that insulted her...nakama..."_

 _Raion's hands were clenched at this point. This heathen had known his mother?! He was so furious, but so curious, he just had to know more about what had inspired what that bandit had said..._

Raion sighed, and looked up to the starty sky. Sadly, the heathen had died with those words. Raion had taken out some anger on him, and come up to see Kai patiently waiting for him. He just couldn't get over the fact that that bandit...practically the most disgusting, lowlife man that he'd ever worked with, had known his angel of a mother...to be honest with himself, Raion couldn't decide whether he was curious or appalled.

 _Either way, though...mother..._ Raion thought as he held a fist over his heart and stood up, still looking upwards to the sky. "I will avenge your death! I promise on my word as a proud and powerful man!"

Kai looked on, not knowing the motivation for the strange behavior of his nakama, but he did like the way it lit a fire in Raion's eyes that told of redemption and victory. Kai liked that look on his nakama's face, it made him look like he had a purpose.

After all, that's what Kai had liked to see in a man that would work with him as his nakama.

%•%•%•%

Raion sighed, for what felt like the thirtieth time in the past hour, as the tiny boat threatened to capsize. It was the third time in the past two hours. "You weren't kidding when you said this little boat was dingy, Kai."

"It was the best I could do in a tight situation! It's not like I left my home country in the best of situations, you know! Jeez! Besides, we've been sailing for two days and it hasn't flipped yet, so it's doing a lot better this time than when I sailed to Mazraea on my own!" Kai said indignantly from behind the wheel, sticking up for the tiny boat with a single sail and a weak rudder.

Raion sighed again, and looked back at his maps. What Kai had said was true, and it was also true that they'd been sailing for two days. They were low on rations, almost out in fact, and the times were getting a bit stressful. Thankfully, according to the maps stolen from Raion's former boss, Kokoan-san, the duo should be reaching the next island that night. He immediately told Kai as much.

"Wow, tonight?! That's so close!" Kai exclaimed, looking at the setting sun on the horizon. "The light'll be gone soon, too! Within the hour, at most, you think?" Raion nodded resolutely. "Sweet! We won't starve tonight, then!"

"We could have had one more meal. But anyway, I hope we arrive before the light fades. It's better to dock in the daytime than the nighttime, even despite the fact that we don't fly a jolly roger yet." Raion said wisely, with a hint of something in his voice that told that he'd had experience with this before.

Sure enough, just as the oranges and pinks from the last rays of sun were starting to set, the duo had spotted land once they had just finished off the last of the rations Kai had bought in Mazraea.

"I see an island." Raion said bluntly as Kai grew excited. So excited, in fact, he was rocking the boat.

"Finally! The next leg on the journey to becoming King commences!" Kai cried happily to the sky, throwing his gloved fists up into the air as he jumped. Raion sighed, and looked a the island they were approaching. _Adventure or not_ , he thought to himself as Kai hastily landed and nearly sent the boat into tipping onto its right side, _we need a new ship as soon as physically possible_.

* * *

 _Hello readers of fanfiction, and welcome back. I must say it's weird posting right after last chapter, but that's okay, I did promise! :)_

 _We saw a little development of Raion's character in this chapter, along with some hints about his past. Don't worry, this WILL be expanded on in a later arc. Like I've said before, I some some arcs planned out, I just don't know which order I want them in, or which should be in the Grand Lines arcs or in this arc...Oh, also, this arc is just titled "West Blue", nothing special. I was planning to have anywhere from three to four islands in this arc, to keep it nice and short!_

 _Anyways, thanks for reading my story! It means a lot, trust me! If you want, drop a comment on my grammar/spelling/language, the story, anything you want! I'd love to hear from you guys about what makes you like or dislike "Voyage of the Aqua Pirates"! After all, it's my job to entertain **you** guys!_

 _I'll be signing off, then! Until Sunday and, remember to stay snazzy!_


	4. Episode 4: A New Island!

_Episode 4: A New Island! Athnan, the Island of Boats!_

The port town Kai and Raion had managed to find on the coast was small, with their boat and a small cargo boat being the only boats in the port. The lanterns on the docks and continuing on into the town, however, burned merrily and seemed to welcome everyone to the island.

"Let's look for a place to sleep for the night, and tomorrow we can discuss our plan of action..." Kai said, yawning. He grabbed his satchel of meager belongings while Raion grabbed his hefty bag of money, clothes, and maps. The duo set off after tipping the man on-duty at the port, thanking him for letting them then had the idea of collecting information about the new island.

"What's the name of this country?" Kai asked the man, whom was happily putting the fee in a specialized satchel. He turned to look at the young pirate captain. "This is the proud country of Safina, young man! Most say we have the best shipwrights in all of West Blue, here in this very city of Qarib Town!"

Raion lazily looked up the path towards the town. "So this is the island of Athnan, then?"

"Indeed, young man! I see you've heard of us!"

"You could say that." Raion agreed mysteriously. Again thanking the man, the duo turned away from the port and towards the torch-lined path. They walked said path from the port to the town, and soon after entering the quiet little town did they find an inn. They entered, a cute little bell jingling overhead.

"Just a minute, please!" Someone said from the back, some shuffling emitting from a closed door behind the counter where the duo of pirates had decided to stop. Soon after, a middle-aged woman emerged from the depths of the inn and gave them a warm, but tired, smile. "Sorry for the wait, what can I do for you two young men?"

"We'd like a two-bed room for two nights, please, milady." Kai said gentlemanly, smiling softly at the hostess. "We also might need to extend that to a week or so." He added, and the woman nodded in understanding.

"Travelers?" The pair nodded. "I see. Well we do have one room open, but it's on the ground floor, which means you'll have to deal with the noise coming from here in the lobby."

"That's perfect ma'am!" Kai exclaimed, relieved to having a room that fit their requirements. Raion paid for the room, since Kai's funds had been dried up to buy food for the trip from Okinowu. And, with directions to their room and a good night from the innkeeper, the pair of pirates walked to their room, set down their stuff, and both sighed in contentment. They both collapsed onto their beds.

"We made it to the next island, Raion! Aren't you so excited for tomorrow?"

Raion grunted, rolling over in his admittedly-comfortable bed. Kai smiled widely, and stuck his gloved fist in the air. "Tomorrow, we start the search for a new nakama, and a new adventure!"

There was a pause, and then Raion turned over and was surprised to see that his captain had removed his gloves and coat, for the first time since Raion had fought him. He wore his normal jeans and shirt, but what amazed Raion were the intricate black tattoos that laced up and down Kai's arms, around his collarbone and down his abdomen, and even around to his shoulder blades and back. How had Raion not seen these during the fight? The tattoos dipped into Kai's pant line, and while Kai was removing his shirt, he noticed Raion staring in surprise at his tattoos.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I got these to connect myself with my fighting, to feel the warrior inside myself. I don't think I've ever explained to you how I fight, either...have I?" Raion shook his head in the negative. "Damn I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you join without mine showing you. Watch."

Before Raion's very eyes, water sprouted from Kai's hands, and Kai was able to suspend the ball of water in midair as Raion looked on. Kai smiled proudly. "My power is the ability to control water! I can throw it, and also turn my body completely into water and melt it into a puddle, and avoid all physical attacks done to my body." Kai smiled sheepishly at Raion's impressed face.

"A Logia type. What's the name of the fruit?"

"Mizu Mizu no Mi. The Water Water Fruit. I'm a water man, which if you think about it is ironic because devil fruit users become weak in water." Kai laughed.

"Do you still become weak in water?" Raion asked, completed fascinated.

"Oh yes, but only seawater or seastone. If either touch my body, my water abilities immediately shut down and I start to feel weak."

"What if you don't touch either of those things? Can you still control water?"

"Oh yes! In fact, I can control sea currents if I want to-sometimes, if I focus hard enough, I can even sense them. But even _using_ my powers on seawater takes a lot of energy, and I prefer not to do it."

"So basically...even touching seawater with your powers makes you weaker?" Raion said, starting to grasp what the limitations were.

"Yup!"

"We should start keeping you away from using seawater then...I never knew Logias were so interesting! Zoan type fruits are completely different."

"Oh, so the devil fruit you want is a zoan type?" Kai asked, interest piqued.

"Yes. I want the Shishi Shishi no Mi, or the Lion Lion fruit." Raion smiled softly, a wistful look crossing his features.

"Your tone suggests that you hold a lot of sentimental value for it."

Raion angrily sat up, having heard the implication in Kai's tone. "I told you not to ask me about my-"

Kai smiled and cut his nakama off. "That means we need to get it for you as quickly as possible, and to do that we need more nakama and a vessel." Kai laid down, and turned his back to Raion. "I don't lightly make promises, and I definitely don't make them if I can't keep them. I won't ask you about your past if you don't want to talk about it. Now, then. I'll wake you in the morning."

Raion sat in the same spot, staring surprised at his captain for a good five minutes. He was startled, to say the least, about his captain's behavior. Just what kind of pirate was he? Pirates didn't keep the promises they made, nor did bandits, or anyone else in the underworld; that was just reality for Raion...and yet, this bare-chested, tattooed, young pirate rookie had just made him momentarily question all the ideals he'd known for years.

Just what kind of person had he aligned himself with?

%•%•%•%

Raion woke up groggily, the bright light filtering through the window burning his eyes. He groaned, and rolled over. How late had he slept? He glanced over, expecting to find his late-sleeping captain on the opposite bed, but did not find him. Actually, upon a search of the entire room, his captain was nowhere to be found.

Raion exited and locked the room, going to the inn owner. Maybe she had seen Kai leave, or something...it was somewhere to start, at least.

"Excuse me, miss, have you seen my companion this morning?" He asked politely to the woman from the previous night behind the counter, who seemed to be writing something.

"Oh yes he went out early this morning, before the sun even rose. He hasn't come back." She said distractedly, turning over the paper and dipping her quill back in some ink.

"Thank you." Raion said, exiting the hotel. That was interesting for Kai-usually the boy didn't get up before ten, let alone before the sun rose. _Oh well_. Raion set out, not really caring where his captain had gone. He knew he needed to find the man at some point, but he wanted to wander the streets for a while in search of anything or anyone interesting. Maybe he would even find a new nakama for the Aqua Pirates.

%•%•%•%

"Are you sure this is where I can find her?" Kai asked the old man, who had been smiling up at the youngster since they'd started talking. The elderly man was about 4"4, more than a foot shorter than the already-short Kai.

"Yes, young man."

"Then thanks, sir. I'll be off to see her, then." Kai turned to go, but was stopped by a hand on his wrist.

"When you speak to her, youngin', I'd suggest not mentioning you're heading for the Grand Line." He said soberly, then let go of Kai's hand.

Kai turned around. "How did you know-?" The old man was nowhere in sight. Kai scratched his head, but ultimately shrugged the weird behavior off. He trudged through the small town and out of it, following the instructions the old man had given him. He followed the winding road up into the mountains for a good half hour, and finally reached his destination-a small cottage, looking over the town and of the port and the beautiful skyline of the sea.

Kai smiled briefly at the sight, then walked up to the door of the cottage. He knocked firmly. "Hello? Is anybody home?"

"Give me a minute!" A muffled female voice called out, followed by a lot of shuffling and curses. Kai's eyebrows raised the woman's originality with her colorful language, and then the door opened. A young woman, at the very least in her high teens and very most in her middle twenties, stood in the doorway. She wore boots, jeans and a white, short sleeve shirt, and all were so covered in sawdust that they looked a solid beige. She also wore a green bandanna atop her head, with the tie sitting (admittedly a little tilted to her left) atop her curly caramel locks. She was just as tall as Kai.

"Oh hello, haven't seen you 'round. Need somethin'?" She asked politely, looking Kai up and down. He wore his cloak, jeans, and gloves that day. His cloak was closed, and all you could see under it were his black boots. He had, however, decided to keep his hood down for this meeting.

"Hello, might you be Baransu Sekai-san?" Kai asked, reading the name off his wrist. "I hear you're the town's shipwright, and I'm in a search of a ship."

"Oh a customer! Come in, come in-you're right about my being a shipwright. Everyone says I'm the best in West Blue-but I don't think so. I'm just a meager novice, trying her best to get by with no way to gather new knowledge." She closed the door after Kai, and lead him to a sitting room. "So what's your name sir? And what kind of ship might you looking for."

"Akvo Kai, and a pirate ship." The empty cup Sekai had just picked up dropped to the ground, her face in pure shock. "Y-you're a pirate?!"

 _Shit, was this what the old man warned me of?!_ "Uh no, what gives you that impression?" Kai asked, hoping she'd drop it.

"G-get out! Get away from me and from this village or you'll pay! I'll kill you before you harm us!" She screamed.

"Woah woah woah, calm down miss! I've no intention to harm you or anyone else in your village. I'm not that type of pirate."

"THERE ARE NO TYPES! PIRATES BRING DESTRUCTION AND CHAOS, AND NOTHING MORE!" She screamed, grabbing a mace that was sitting next to a row of the same weapon. The one she grabbed looked to be the heaviest, yet she swung it around with ease, then pointed it at Kai's chest. "Now get the _fuck_ out of my house."

"I just need a ship! Please, I can pay you." He added somewhat desperately. He got on his knees and bowed his head to the floor. "I give you my word as a pirate and as a captain that I won't do anything to you or your village. I just need a ship, and you said yourself that you make them."

There was a long silence, wherein Kai kept his head firmly placed on the floor even when his muscles started screaming at him to move. Then, finally, the shipwright spoke up.

"You, a pirate, would prostrate yourself in front of an enemy, with a weapon? Let alone a woman with a weapon...you're not a normal pirate."

"Yes ma'am, and I'm of the type to keep their promises, no matter what-even if keeping a promise kills me." Kai raised his head, but stayed kneeling. "So please, please consider building a ship for me and my crew."

Sekai frowned. "Have you no shipwright to build one for you?"

"No...we haven't managed to find one yet..." Kai trailed off, hanging his head. "We just recognized the fact that if we wish to efficiently look for one before we set sail for the Grand Line, we need at least a ship that won't capsize as it sails around West Blue."

"...I see. I'll think it over, come back tomorrow." With that, she disappeared further into the cottage, leaving Kai to let himself out. He walked slowly back to the village, thinking over the strange woman and her outburst. He didn't notice her watching him leave through a window.

%•%•%•%

The woman Kai had just spoke with had been...weird. First, she'd welcomed him into her house, then kicked him out after he fell to his knees? Too weird...very weird...Kai needed more information. There was obviously some sort of backstory tied to her, that he had no chance of knowing, seeing as he was a foreigner. But how to find out about it?

Kai pondered this question as he reentered the port town, hands crossed over his chest in contemplation. Due to his careless strolling, he bumped into something bigger and meatier than him, and it sent him back a foot or so. Thankfully he managed not to fall flat on his butt.

"Hey, watch where you're-" the taller person said angrily, turning around and cutting himself short upon seeing Kai. He was at least six foot, with bulging muscles and short black hair. He wore a tank top and jeans. "You...are you okay, shorty?"

Kai brushed himself off. "Oh yes, pardon my inattentiveness."

"No no don't do that, it was my fault. I shouldn't be standing in the middle of town anyway but..." The man said, looking back to where he'd been previously facing. "There's just been another visit from the Claw Pirates, is all..."

* * *

 _Pardon the cliffhanger, but the chapter was getting a bit long. So our heros have moved on to the next island in West Blue. Kai's met a hot-tempered shipwright, as well as a bulky unnamed man. What else does Athnan have in store for the pirate duo?  
_

 _Welcome back my readers, how have you all been? I hope you like this chapter, since I'm very excited for this island. It's going to bring about character development for Kai, as well as Raion. I can't wait! :)_

 _Well I think that's about it! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and like always, if you see a mistake I've made, or if you want to say something about the story, leave a comment! I assure you, anything you have to say will help me tremendously. Until Tuesday, stay snazzy!_


	5. Episode 5: Gathering Info and Friends!

_Episode 5: Gathering Information and Budding Friendships!_

"Claw Pirates?" Kai asked, interest piqued.

"Oh yeah, bunch 'o nasty guys that come down here and pillage our goods. It isn't right what they do, but we can't fight back. Their captain is a nasty one, too."

"Why don't you fight?"

"They've captured our wives, our children, our leadership, our strongest warriors; we don't know where they're being kept, but we assume it's where their hideout is."

"I see." Kai frowned, tapping his finger on his chin. "So you can't fight back, and they keep taking from you...is there any reason behind this?"

The man frowned. "All they've said is that they're pirates and this is what pirates do."

Kai frowned, but quickly hid it, leading the man in front of him to curiosity. Kai, however, spoke up again before he could expound. "Thank you, sir, this information is invaluable to my cause." He smiled and walked around his obstacle, then disappeared into the crowd.

Kai spent a good hour walking the streets of Qarib Town, asking every three people or so for more information on the Claw Pirates. He gathered much of the same vague information (pirates are evil, they steal everything, blah blah) but some people actually told him of the pirates themselves, and by high noon Kai reckoned that he'd gathered enough intel to be able to properly assert the situation that had been presented to him.

One thing that stuck with him, though, was having one small boy ask him whether or not he was going to use that information to beat the pirates.

Kai smiled at the child (even ruffling his hair a bit as he giggled) and nodded, a wistful expression on his face. "I'll take them down. I promise you, I'll do it." He waved goodbye after spinning on his heal and walked towards the center of town, ignoring the cries of the child behind him to come back.

He needed to find his first mate as quickly as possible. Seeing as how Raion was usually the early riser of the duo, Kai would have ventured to bet that he was already out on the town.

%•%•%•%

Raion snorted loudly, drawing a few weird looks from the passerby. "So he _actually_ accepted what you said was true."

"Yup, poor thing. Now he's deep in a bet he doesn't know he'll lose, but, at least I get the money."

Raion waved his hand in the air. "Money's all that matters in this world, to achieve your dreams or just to survive."

The man opposite nodded. "Money makes the world go 'round, as they say."

"Truer words have never been said." Raion agreed, raising his sake mug to clink it with his companion. They both took identically-big chugs to finish off their mugs. "So I never did get your name. Mine's Raion."

"Daburu Tsuin, but you can call me Tsuin!" The young man laughed joyfully. "So friend, what would you like to do next? Seems we've both finished our sake."

"My-" Raion didn't know if his new friend would turn him in for being a pirate or not, so he decided not to call Kai his captain, "er, friend-went out on the town this morning and hasn't come back. I was looking to spar with somebody and happened upon you."

Tsuin laughed. "Oh, spar, huh? I think I can take you up on that if you'd like. I'd care to say I'm a pretty good fighter." He patted two sword holsters that were leaning against his chair.

"I'll take you at your word for that. Let's do it." Raion said, leaving Belis behind on the table to pay for their meal and walking away. Tsuin followed him.

"Are we going to retrieve your weapon?" He asked, crossing his arms lazily behind his head.

"I have my weapons on me at all times." Raion said casually.

"Oh?" Tsuin inquired. "What do you use?"

"Throwing knives."

"Ah, and I'd venture to bet that from your stature you're a pretty good aim."

"Not exactly."

"Oh come on, don't be so-"

" _Raion!_ " A familiar voice called out. Raion stopped, and looked all around him for any sign of his captain. He knew he had heard his name called by that familiar voice.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Tsuin asked as Raion stopped walking. Tsuin noticed him looking around.

"I have to go. I'll see you around. " Raion said flippantly, stalking away from his companion with little more than a wave. He nearly instantly got lost in the crowd. Tsuin watched him go without following him, and turned around.

"Well that was odd...especially for the Golden Mercenary...I'll have to contact HQ about his weird behavior!" Tsuin laughed. "To think he'd think we were friends..." Tsuin laughed again, walking towards the docks where there was a new ship docked-a marine battleship. "Guess I can use it to my advantage at least. I'll get myself his head and the Beli reward if it's the last thing I do." He said as he walked past saluting marines while thouroughly ignoring them. _His bounty in my hands will be the key to my victory_.

%•%•%•%

As soon as the strange pirate had left her home, Sekai walked to her small library of books. She had gathered all of the information on shipbuilding that should could get her hands on from the capital of Athnan Island, Safina. She didn't have much, the measly library only numbering about fifteen to twenty books. It made her sad thinking about how much more information was out there, waiting for her, that she couldn't access or use.

What if she went with that pirate? He said himself that he didn't have a shipwright on his crew...and a shipwright was deadly necessary to have on the open seas...

Sekai nearly ran herself through with her mace. What was she doing, thinking such outlandish things? Traveling? With a _pirate_ , of all things. Sekai made a disgusted noise, and opened a book on ship hulls. Traveling with a pirate was the last thing she'd ever do in her life, especially if it was with that pirate that had come in earlier. She'd make his ship for the money, and pay her way to the Grand Line.

...

At least that's what she told herself as she started looking for a reason to travel with the mysterious and unusual pirate captain.

%•%•%•%

Raion found his captain outside the town, standing and looking up at the mountain top. As he approached, Kai spoke up.

"Snow is beautiful isn't it?" He asked mysteriously, as if he was saying those words, but talking about something else.

"What do you mean, captain?" Raion asked, looking up at the snow along with his nakama.

"Mm. You're from North Blue, right?" Kai asked, only acknowledging that he'd heard with a grunt.

"Yup." Raion said, looking back up at the snow. "Snow's kind of a normal thing for me."

"I heard from a distressed woman that a band of pirates have been living in a cave near the summit of this mountain. They occasionally fire random cannons and destroy a house or two. Sometimes they even raid the town, steal a couple people, and return to the mountain once the town fills their stomachs. They have over three hundred people kept hostage, if not killed by now." Kai spit to his side, well into the grass next to the path they were on. He looked at the ground. "The town's going broke, whilst trying to overcome their depression over their loved ones going missing and repairing the damage those pirates have done."

Raion stayed silent, stuffing his hands into his slacks' pockets. He silently wondered where his captain had learned of this information.

"I want them gone, Raion. That is our new goal: shipwright and ship be damned."

Raion hummed. "I see. Any reason?"

Kai looked up at the mountain, a fierce expression on his features. His new nakama was surprised by the ferocity he showed. "They hurt innocent men, women, and children every day, even tearing apart the life of a little girl, and many others, for no reason other than for their amusement-and then on top of that they dare to call themselves pirates. It's despicable, and frankly disgusting." Kai's fierceness translated even into his usually-calm voice.

"Oh? For many, that kind of behavior comes with the title of pirate."

"Pirates that do this type of thing aren't pirates, not even close," Kai clenched his fists in outrage. "Pirates that do this are cowards, and nothing more. It's pirates like us, Raion, that must bring them to justice and show the world how pirates are supposed to be...to show them how the Pirate King acts!"

Raion smirked openly, and looked up at the peak with his captain. "Your orders, captain?"

Kai nodded, and crossed his arms. "Get to that cave and take out those horrible excuses for pirates, in the name of our crew, the Aqua Pirates!" Kai proudly set off towards the mountain path that winded up the perilous mountain, his head held high and his mind resolute. Raion rolled his eyes at his captain's foolishness, but followed the boy anyway, and was even starting to find himself getting used to the younger man's antics and whims.

Neither of them noticed a hefty man with black hair, and bulging muscles under a tank top and jeans, watching their exchange. Nor did they notice said man run off to a certain cottage on a cliff.

%•%•%•%

Sekai looked up from her notes as a banging erupted from her front door. She frowned, wondering if the pirate captain had already come back. She had told him tomorrow, right? "Coming!" She called out.

"Sekai this is an emergency!" Pole, the temporary leader of the port city cried as she opened her door. "Some travelers have declared that they'll take on the Claw Pirates!"

"Stop talking nonsense, Pole, and put a shirt on." Sekai rolled her eyes at Pole's sleeveless arms.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Sekai! They've already set off up the mountain path! They could easily get lost...or worse, reach their target!"

Sekai growled under her breath. "Goddammit, this is why I hate outsiders. What did they look like, I'll go look for them." She ran into her house and grabbed her two heaviest maces: Gloria and Glorious. She then put on a a leather jacket that was reinforced with extra leather on the shoulders.

"Well one was a short man with bright blue hair, and a great billowing black cloak! The other had golden hair and a fine black suit on!" Pole called from the doorway.

Sekai stopped. Blue hair...! "Fuck! I know the blue-haired one!" Sekai said, walking back to the doorway and then walking outside, turning to lock it.

"What?! How?" Pole asked, astonished, as he watched Sekai quickly lock up her workshop.

"He came by earlier, asking for me to build a ship for him. I guess someone in the town had told him of my abilities." Sekai grumbled.

"A ship?"

"Not just any ship, a pirate ship. He's a pirate, and he mentioned a crew-which I assume is the golden boy that was with him." Sekai hefted both maces over her shoulders, landing hard on the leather padding there. Sekai didn't even flinch.

"P-pirates?!"

"Mm." Sekai started walking, then picked up her pace and was sprinting towards the mountain path that could be seen from her home. "I'll bring them back, so don't worry!" She called over her shoulder as the buff man stared after her, astonished, words having left him. Before he thought of a suitable response to the young woman's rashness, she was gone from his sight.

* * *

 _This is going to be a short author's note because it's really late where I am. But, nevertheless, welcome back to Voyage! The plot is beginning to thicken on this island, what with a villain and an interesting backstory. And what will become of Sekai, I wonder...?_

 _Thanks for reading, guys! If you see any mistakes or want to suggest anything to make this story better, please leave a review! And like always, my friends, stay snazzy!_


	6. Episode 6: Hike up Athnan Mountain!

_Episode 6: Hike up Athnan Mountain! A Possible New Nakama?_

Kai and Raion trekked up the mountain with his hands in his pockets, mirroring each other. The duo had been walking for an hour, and had gotten horribly lost due to Kai messing up his lefts and rights. They had somehow ended up with trees all around them, and the path nowhere in sight.

"Kai, where exactly _are_ we?" Raion asked tensely, eye twitching as his captain scratched his head in confusion.

Kai turned in a slow circle, still scratching his head. He seemed not to notice the aura of irritation that his first mate was directing towards him. "I think that we might be lost..."

" _Might_ be?" Raion yelled. Some birds, startled by the sudden loud noise, all took off in a flurry of wing beats and feathers. Kai flinched away from his angry nakama.

"Okay okay, we are!" Kai conceded quickly and brought his hands up in an attempt to settle Raion's anger. "But I'll find us a way back!" Kai flinched back as Raion drew a knife from his sleeve threateningly _._

"Actually, you won't. There is no way I am ever letting you take the lead again!"

"Aw come on Raion, it's not that-" Kai flinched back as Raion started slowly walking towards him, knife raised as if promising a punishment. "W-wait, let's just all calm down...!" Raion kept advancing, and Kai kept retreating, until Raion had Kai pressed up against a tree.

"Woah woah, should I come back?" A female voice jingled, with a laugh once Raion's reflexes reacted by throwing a knife at her. It imbedded itself into the thick leather padding on her shoulders, right next to one of the twin maces she was carrying. "Let's not get touchy, I'm here to bring y'all two back to civilization."

Raion relaxed only slightly, weary of the girl's double weapons, but Kai stepped past him and tilted his head. "Sekai?"

The woman smiled. "The one and only."

Kai smiled back, but his smile was more weary. "I don't mean to be rude, but...why are you here?"

"The temporary leader of our town, Pole, ran and told me of two dumbasses that thought they had the nerve climb Mount Athnan without a guide." Seeing confused expressions on the duo's faces, Sekai dropped her aces on the ground with a heavy THUD. "Big guy, short hair, sleeveless shirt?"

"Oh I've met him!" Kai exclaimed, remembering the man he'd accidentally bumped into back in Qarib Town. "He originally told me about the Claw Pirates!"

Raion frowned, and turned towards his captain. "Did you just go out and meet everyone on this island this morning?"

Kai smiled proudly. "I met a lot of people! After old tank top guy, I met a marine, a family heir, and a cute little boy! They all told me about the Claw Pirates, and I promised the little boy that I'd defeat them!"

Sekai snapped her fingers. "Oh that's another thing, I can't let you face the Claw Pirates, even if you are...pirates... You two will be demolished, and I can't have outsiders become even more of their hostages."

Kai looked down at the ground, and brought his hands up to clasp behind his head. He then looked back up at Sekai, and smiled widely. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to beat them all and not get captured! I've already promised that little boy, right?"

Sekai was startled, to say the least, at Kai's display of bravery. "W-well, I don't care about that! I'm trying to protect you from those monsters! I know that you'll never beat them! Even if you are pirates!"

Raion smirked and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "If you tell us that we can't, we will. You have to remember that we /are/ pirates."

Kai smiled while Sekai looked astonished at the man's audacity. "What Raion said is true. We're pirates, and breaking the law is kind of our pastime. I appreciate the gesture of care that you've shown us, I really do. But we're still going."

Sekai's mouth dropped open. While she stared, dumbfounded, the pirates walked around her and started through the trees. The duo immediately started arguing which way they should go and, with a heavy sigh and a realization that this was the only way she would keep them safe, Sekai hefted her maces back onto her shoulders.

"Hey, you two, the fastest way to the pirates' cave is this way!" She called out. Kai immediately turned around and ran to Sekai, lots of thanks falling from his lips. Raion followed more slowly, not quite _trusted_ the girl's intentions.

Despite Raion's worry of misintention, however, the three young people reached the mouth of a gapping cave by around three o'clock. Kai whistled appreciatively. "That IS one BIG cave!"

"Shhhhh!" Sekai shushed, worried about the pirates noticing they were there. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

Raion frowned. "Are you still on that, woman? We're not going back."

"You have to! Come on, this is our last chance to escape!" She whispered fervently. Kai laughed loudly, the echos echoing down the cave. She frantically turned and covered Kai's mouth. "Shush, you dumbass!"

"Oi, don't call my captain a dumbass." Raion defended flippantly. Two knives fell out of his sleeves with a flick of wrists. "But this is your last chance, woman. I can hear around ten, maybe fifteen, feet heading towards us. If you want to run, do it now."

Kai stepped up next to his first mate. "This is going to be fun~!" Kai exclaimed happily.

"Your definition of fun is skewed, captain." Raion commented lightly, and Kai laughed loudly again. Sekai stared at the backs of the two men, struggling with the decision of staying with the duo or letting them be defeated while she escaped.

As thirteen pirates rushed out of the cave entrance, Sekai stepped nervously up beside Kai, who smiled over at her as the pirates surrounded the trio swiftly. She gulped. "W-well, let's do this, I g-guess...!"

"Just have faith in me." Kai said confidently, holding his chin up high as the circle of armed pirates started to close in on them.

"And so it begins..." Raion said, smirking as one pirates raised his sword to attack. Raion easily parried, and disarmed the pirate. Raion stabbed him, and he fell over with a cry of pain. His comrades around him became enraged and charged at once as the three settled into fighting stances to prepare for the fight.

Kai kicked upwards and his foot collided solidly with a man's jaw. Kai bent his knee as two more of his enemies charged towards him, swords drawn; as they were about to filet him, he smirked and spun with the dying momentum of his kick. He used the momentum from the swing to take out his two other attackers, and, managed to pile the three men up in a jumble. He stood up straight, and looked at the boot print on the original pirate's neck.

Kai looked up and laughed as more pirates, coming out of the mouth of the cave, immediately targeted and ran at him. "Throw everything you can at us!"

"Say that for yourself-" Sekai yelled, swinging her smaller mace, Gloria, into a man's gut, which caused the man to have to double over and cough, "-you damn pirates!"

Kai laughed again as two men on either side of him were sent flying by his fists. "That's not a very nice thing to say to your future captain~!" He cried before he fell to the floor and rolled under a man's mace swing, then stood behind said man and brought his elbow down on the man's head. The man crippled. "Right, Raion?"

"Please tell me," Raion started as he slashed through his victims, all powerless to do anything about the blond's agility and deadly accuracy. Raion stood as all of his opponents fell at once, bleeding out from their major arteries, "you're not serious about bringing this child with us."

"C-child?!" Sekai cried indignantly, and even went as far as to stomp her foot. "I am no child you playboy asshat!" She almost had her head removed from her body as a double-hooked pirate brought his hooks around her neck, but Raion saved her by throwing a knife that went perfectly through his windpipe and jugular, immediately killing him.

"Yes, you are. If I have to protect you from death, you are a child to me."

"You're the one that fucking distracted me!" Sekai practically screamed, storming over to the taller man. She pointed a finger at his chest, and with every word, poked his chest. "Don't judge me you fucking pirate."

"Watch your language, shorty." Raion snickered.

"Why you fucking shit-" Sekai started angrily.

Kai walked over to the two quarreling opposites and placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "Now you two, if we're going to all sail together as nakama, we need to be able to work together as a team! Don't you guys want that?"

"I'm not working together with this bastard, now or ever!

"I don't think I could resist throwing her overboard, captain." Raion confessed while Sekai started threatening his life for threatening her.

As the two started bickering, Kai couldn't help but pick up a small detail in what Sekai said. Judging by the absence of underlying malice that usually accompanied Raion's threats, Kai knew that his observant nakama had noticed the words too, maybe even before his captain.

Sekai hadn't denied that she wanted to be a pirate.

* * *

 _Welcome back my readers, I apologize for the lateness but due to yesterday being Thanksgiving I had to help with the meal prep, and it was just a hassle to get anything done with so many people doing so many things. So, I figured the chapter would have to be written and edited today. Sorry guys!_

 _I just want to thank everyone that's reading this again. If you'd like, go ahead and drop a review to leave any comments or concerns about the story, but other than that, all I ask is that you read! :) Until Sunday, my friends, stay snazzy!_


	7. Episode 7: The Cave of the Claw Pirates

_Episode Seven: The Cave of the Claw Pirates_

"Shut up."

"Don't tell me to shut up you goddamned asshole!"

"What happened to asshat?"

"It's too gentle of an insult for a pirate like you."

Kai watched Sekai and Raion nonchalantly. So far, no one had come out after the second wave of Claw underlings to deal with them, so he was perfectly content to do so. Raion seemed to just be amusing himself by continuing the argument, and this fact ticked Sekai off to no end, which made Raion want to piss her off more, and her get angrier...it was just an endless cycle. Endless, and exhausting, but hilarious to Kai at that moment.

"You guys are funny to watch." Kai commented in a lull in the argument as Sekai contemplated how to respond to whatever Raion had said. "It's extremely amusing."

"Oh, so now we're just a comedy act?" Sekai shot at Kai, and eliciting no response farther than a smile, both infuriated and mollified her.

"You wound me, captain." Raion replied slightly sarcastically, but did so with a flat tone. As he said this to Kai, he looked up towards the cave and clicked his tongue. "Shall we continue on?"

"Oh no, no way in hell am I letting you guys go in there." Sekai said, walking a couple steps towards the entrance and holding her arms out on either sides of her body. Raion glanced down at her maces, which she'd left sitting on the ground by his feet. "I'm sorry but I'm putting my foot down now. You guys have had your fun, fought tons of guys, so we're going back."

"Without your weapons?" Raion inquired with a hidden chuckle. Sekai's eyebrow twitched, but she did not reply to Raion and stared Kai dead in the eyes.

"You guys don't want to see this freak, trust me. Just please trust me, let's go."

"No." Kai said firmly. Raion nodded in agreement with his captain.

"I want you to think, just for a minute. I want you to find some fear somewhere in that heart of yours, I know it's there-it's always there. I want, and I need, you to walk back down the mountain with me. Drop the heroic act, I know you're scared out of your wits-it's okay, but I can't help if you insist on-"

"On what?" Kai asked, cutting Sekai off completely. She looked startled to be interrupted. "Saving your village? Is that what you think we're doing?"

Sekai blinked as Kai looked at her with a level stare that did not waver. She looked wonderingly at Raion, having not found anything with Kai, and saw the tall and aloof first mate glaring down at her. He seemed insulted that she would think that.

"You're not saving my town?" Sekai asked quietly.

"That's just a bonus." Kai said seriously, looking at the cave with anger glistening in his pupils. "Our goal is to take down those tyrants who call themselves pirates."

Raion grunted, earning Sekai's attention. "We're not heros, woman. We're pirates, and pirates don't save people, yeah? We follow our own agendas."

"..." Sekai couldn't exactly deny what they were saying, but her sense of moral just wouldn't let her let them go. "Just...stop with this foolish stubbornness and get back to my house, stupid men!" She said quietly, her gaze dropping to the ground.

Kai gaze softened as he thought he saw a tear glisten and fall to the ground from Sekai's eye. "I am truly sorry, but we can't stop now. We're here, we're going, and you can't stop us." Kai glanced at Raion. "You ready?"

"Always ready for a fight." Raion replied stoically, his wrists twitching. They passed Sekai's outstretched arms. She did not move to stop them.

They were almost out of sight in the cave's shadow before they heard movement behind them. Sekai was silently following them, Kai had found upon turning his head, after she had hefted her maces onto her shoulder pads.

Once she caught up, Kai glanced behind him and at her again. "Coming due to a guilty soul or a guilty conscience?"

"Shut up, bastard..."

Kai laughed and turned back towards the front. They were almost to the cave when Raion spoke up. "So you called this man a monster?"

Sekai nodded quietly to herself, then again to confirm to the other two. "I've only seen him the one time I was in the village when he attacked, but he was mutilated...he had, these... _ears_ , actual brown animal ears, growing out of his head, a-and a _tail_! There was fur all over his body, but he still talked like a normal human! It was disturbing..."

"A devil fruit eater, then." Raion concluded nonchalantly.

Sekai looked over at him, surprised by the indifference towards her description. "A-a what?"

"Devil fruits are special fruits that give the eater a devil's power. There are many fruits, and many devils that have eaten them. The powers depend on the fruit, and there are three types of fruits..." Kai trailed off at that point, having gotten lost in his thoughts. Raion cast a glance at his captain, then continued the description.

"The types are Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia. Logias are widely considered as the strongest, what with the eater being able to morph his body into whatever element the fruit gave them to avoid attacks, and also control that element. Sand, fire, et cetera-"

"So wait," Sekai interrupted, "if I ate one of these... _fruits_ , I'd be able to morph into what ever element it gives me?" From the tone of her voice, anyone could tell that she just wasn't believing this.

"Basically, but only Logias do the element thing. Zoans and Paramecias don't do that."

Sekai hummed in disbelief. "Okay...the other two?"

"Paramecia types affect the eater's body. The most famous example of these is probably the second Pirate King's fruit, the Gomu Gomu no Mi. Zoans, completely different from the other two, allow the eater the ability to transform into an animal."

Sekai's eyes widened. "An animal...? So, when you said the Claw Pirate's captain is a devil fruit eater..."

Raion nodded. "From your description, he is most definitely a Zoan type."

Sekai hummed in wonder, suddenly very quiet and processing the new information she'd received.

The cave had completely enveloped them at that point, and it was getting darker and darker as the sunlight from the cave opening got farther and farther away. Then, the cave started to descend into the mountain, and it seemed that the slope was gentle as to prevent someone from tripping. Kai stopped, snapped out of his thoughts by his inability to see more than a meter or so and became uneasy by it. Then, his ears perked as a soft sound echoed through the cave and a strong wind blew his hair across his eyes then around his head.

Raion stopped and Sekai bumped into Raion with a soft oof. She almost cried an outburst at the taller man but Kai shushed her. She was startled into silence. They walked for a while, and then stopped again at Kai's insistence.

Raion spoke up after a minute or so of standing and listening through the wind and quiet. "Be on guard." He muttered under his breath. In response, Sekai gripped her handles tighter. The trio stopped walking and no one could see anything.

"What do you hear, dammit?" She was blind, and it was making her uneasy.

"Shut up." Kai whispered distractedly. He ran to the wall and, just as Sekai thought he would crash into it, Kai stopped. From the sounds he was making, he seemed to be rubbing the wall. Sekai, whose eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness, could see Raion doing the same on the other wall. They were definitely looking for something.

It was about five minutes, and twenty or so meters down the tunnel, before Kai exclaimed in surprise. Perking up, Sekai ran to the blue-haired young man and asked what was wrong, and put her maces on the ground. Kai smiled.

"I've found where the wind is coming from." Kai whispered excitedly, like a child opening presents on Christmas morning. Had the situation not been more tense, Sekai might have found it amusing. Kai pointed out how there was indeed a distinct breeze coming from between a crack in the stone wall.

"Find the switch." Raion ordered, himself having come over and was rubbing and patting the wall near the crack. Sekai and Kai immediately consented and started doing what they were told.

Sekai was the one that found it. It was a mound sticking out of the wall, and curiously, she attempted to move it. In doing so she activated what was actually the switch, and not a mound, which pressed itself into the wall. "Found it!"

Just as she announced that excitedly, the cave started rumbling. Raion and Kai stepped back, both dropping into fighting stances. Sekai stepped back to her maces, and hefted on onto her shoulder and left the other hanging by her side.

A square of wall in front of the trio was sinking into the wall around it, and a thin line of light and wind appeared around the square. It then moved sideways, and they were temporarily blinded. When their eyes adjusted, they saw an underground dome, and all along the walls were cages filled with people. Kai walked in, as well as Sekai, and they were horrifically awed by the sight. Raion stayed by the door to keep watch.

The people, who had started to notice the intruders at this point, started to stand and curiously look at them. Some couldn't, too exhausted and malnourished to stand. Those that did stand, well... Kai really wished that they hadn't. They all were gaunt, and looked more like spectres than actual human beings. They all wore rags of what must have been their former clothes, as each rag was a different color and some looked vaguely like jeans. The people in the cages, however, were not the focal point in the room.

There was a pole-type object, with attached handcuffs running up and down it. The handcuffs looked to be made of seastone, due to the hue they gave in the lighting, and didn't seem to come off easily. There was a man, little more than twenty, strapped to one pair of handcuffs (thankfully, due to his shirt still being on, Kai came to the conclusion that the torture that the pole was meant for had not been inflicted upon him). He looked up from the ground as the trio walked in, and his eyes filled with disbelief at seeing Kai's companion, whom had dropped her maces with a thump at seeing him.

"Sekai?" He asked hoarsely. He sounded like he hadn't used his voice in a while.

"J-Jeremy...?" Sekai asked, horrified at his position.

"What are you-" Jeremy asked, but was cut off by Raion coming back into the room.

"Kai," he called flatly, "pirates are on their way. You want me to take care of them?"

Kai frowned deeply. He wanted, needed actually, to help these poor people, but he and Raion had told Sekai that that course of action was not what the duo came to do...he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and turned to the slightly-shellshocked Sekai. "Raion and I are going to look for the captain. There's no doors in here, so this isn't where he's hiding. Free the people if you want, Raion and I will worry about the pirates-okay?"

Sekai nodded numbly. "Y-yeah...sorry for not being any help on this front but these are my friends, my townsmen..."

Kai smirked, and started walking towards the doorway, back to the female mace-weilder. Faint footsteps could be heard now from the hall, echoing all around the domed cave. "It's fine, you're not officially apart of our crew yet! When you join, though, I expect you to pull your own weight!"

"What do you mean ' _When_ I join your crew'? I never said I would!" Sekai exclaimed furiously. The duo was gone, however, though she could hear Kai laughing joyfully at her expense. She growled, but turned to the room and Jeremy.

"Let's start a jailbreak, everybody!"

* * *

 _Due to my unfaithfulness with_ Voyage _this past week, I deeply aplogize to everyone! I could lie and say it took me forever to write this chapter, but it just isn't the case. I had homework, family, and band events all week long and this is the only day I've been free (yes, including the weekend. I'm ALSO busy this weekend!) So, due to my inability to post all that much for this upcoming week, I'm going to cut down my posting days to Tuesdays only, at least until my winter break starts._

 _I again apologize, to you guys my readers! Don't worry, I'm already in the process of writing the next chapter, and there is going to be a fight, promise! No more holding off the difficult fight scenes..._

 _Until Tuesday guys! Leave a comment if you'd like!_


	8. Episode 8: A Battle for the Prisoners!

_Episode 8: A Battle for the Prisoners! Sekai vs Kalvin!_

Truely Sekai had no idea what she was doing. She wanted to look as if she knew how to miraculously free all the imprisoned people of her countrymen and women. She, most of all, needed to _know_ what to do. So, she walked up to Jeremy and smashed Glorious into the pole keeping him in place. The heavy mace, despite being upwards of fifty pounds, did little more than dent the sturdy pole.

As she pounded away, Jeremy stared at her. The woman standing in front of him and swinging those maces around looked outwardly the same. Inwardly, however...Sekai had changed. The woman he knew was a shy, but bad-mouthed shipbuilder that did nothing but avoid everyone and everything except for building ships. Over the last couple of years, her dream had been replaced in her mind by the bigger issue of the Claw Pirates, and Jeremy hadn't heard her talk about it since she was a little girl. Now...now Jeremy could tell that Sekai was finally thinking it could be possible, if all she could do was leap this burden that she had placed on her shoulders

He suspected those two men that had entered the prison with her had something to do with this change but, sadly, he had no idea how or why.

"Damn, what is this pole _made_ of?!" Sekai cried as she swung both Glorious and Gloria in the same spot and barely made the pole bend. It snapped Jeremy out of his thoughts and got him focused on the issue at hand.

"Sekai, listen," Jeremy interrupted her banging on the pole, "stop worrying about me and get the jailer."

"J-jailer...?" Sekai asked rather dumbly. Why the hell had she not thought of that? Jailers had keys!

"He has the keys to everything in the place, and he's the one that...has kept us like this." He finished lamely, obviously hiding something. Sekai frowned, wanting to know what he meant by that but not knowing at the same time, but Jeremy stopped that line of thought again. "Stop worrying about our past and give us our future, Sekai. We're depending on you."

Sekai smiled softly. "You're avoiding something but...I do need to save you guys, so we'll continue this later." She started running towards the doorway.

"It's a promise..." Jeremy said quietly to himself. The other prisoners besides himself had started chattering excitedly, finally having a hope that they might be set free after all these years. All Jeremy could think of, however, were those two men that Sekai seemed to trust enough to let them take care of their town's tormenters.

%•%•%•%

As Sekai ran down the strikingly familiar hallway, she started to get flashbacks of the last time she was here. It was just after her best friend had been captured by the pirates.

 _Sekai ran down the hallway, a gun that she'd stolen from one of the guards clutched tightly in her small hand. She was at the tender age of fourteen, and the accursed pirates had entered her town's shores four years ago. As an anniversary present, the pirates had stormed Qarib Town that morning and captured anyone that had protested-including her best friend, Jeremy._

 _The town mayor had to physically stop the young shipwright as she yelled obscenities at the pirates as they stole her best friend and some of the mayor's best citizens. Afterwards she had declared she was going to save everyone, but was stopped again by the mayor. Sekai had had to sneak away from the town and into the woods where she'd seen the pirates disappear into the woods. She was determined to make the pirates pay._

 _And now, inside the base of those same pirates, Sekai knew she was extremely close to her goal. She could feel it, the way the walls seemed to stare at her as she ran past. It was unnerving and quite a bit scary, but Sekai was firm in her resolve. She **would** make those pirates pay!_

Sekai stopped the memory right there. She didn't want to remember what had happened next, or how she had barely escaped from the cave with her life. It still haunted her, to that day, about how weak she had been. Due to her lack of strength and her abundance of cowardice, more people of her village had fallen victim to the Claw Pirates. She had separated herself from the town, and built herself under the pretense of wanting to learn how to build ships more efficiently.

The real reason, however, was that she was hoping that she would build a ship and sail to see, gather a crew, and return to Athnan and defeat the captain of the Claw Pirates-the infamous Captain "Cleaver the Mutt".

 _But those two pirates that showed up..._ Sekai slowed down to a measly walk, thinking about the odd duo, _Kai and Raion...they don't seem to have a crew bigger than themselves, but...from the way those two fought out front, they are extremely strong..._

Could this be the crew that Sekai had dreamed would take down the Claw Pirates?

Frowning, Sekai shook off the hopeful thought and started running again, towards the door that she figured would be just up ahead, if her life earlier experience in this exact cave was anything to go by. "I'll think about those two shitheads later..." She murmured to herself, "I need to focus on finding this damned jailer..."

%•%•%•%

After another couple minutes of weaving through the seemingly-endless cave, Sekai happened upon two doors, both next to each other. One was cracked open, and had noises of a fight seeping out of it. If she was correct, that was the door that Kai and Raion had gone through. Sekai looked to the other door, which opened with a nudge from her elbow.

She walked through, cautious as to why the door opened so easily. Inside the door was another domed room, but immensely smaller than the jailroom. This one also was much more cozy. It had crates stacked up along one corner of the wall, and in the middle were a couple couches sprinkled along, making it seem kind of like a conference area. Along another wall were braziers with protected flames, so that if the torch in a brazier fell it would go out before it hit anything.

Sekai stepped into the room a couple steps and the door immediately slammed closed behind her, and locked itself. She quickly turned around and then whirled back to facing the room as laughter started coming from one of the couches.

There was a man sitting there. He had a long braid of orange hair running down his head and across his shoulder, and he was heavily muscled. Leaning against the couch from the back, and with the butt of the hilt of the stick near his face, was some kind of weapon that was hidden from Sekai's sight. He had lots of scars, and his laugh was deep and full of malice.

His piercing orange eyes, the exact same color as his hair, opened and locked themselves onto her own. He smirked as Sekai dropped into an offensive stance with her maces.

"Hello little girl, can I ask you your name?" He asked, his voice grating on Sekai's nerves for some reason.

"Sekai. Are you this Cleaver that I've been hearing about?" Sekai hoped beyond hope that her guess was wrong. If anything about the rumors, or his bounty of 20,000,000 ฿, were true about his strength, she wouldn't win.

"Oh no little lady, he's next door," Sekai mentally sighed in relief. Then Kai and Raion were taking on the captain! They would surely win, "but I wouldn't underestimate me! I'm the Captain's second-hand man, and he's left me in charge of the prisoners that we've collected over the years."

 _The jailer! I found him, thank goodness!_ "Oh, I see. Then it's you I must fight."

The redheaded man raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Oh my, a tiny girl like _you_ , fight _me?_ Are you sure you want to do that?"

Sekai's eye twitched at the sexist comment. "Yeah, I am. My friends are busy taking care of your captain, and have left me in charge of freeing the prisoners."

"Ah, so you're one of the attackers that beat up my men at the front gate..." The man on the couch concluded darkly.

Sekai frowned warily. "How did you know your men were attacked?"

In response the man held up a tiny snail that seemed to be asleep. Sekai recognized it immediately. "A Den Den Mushi?!"

"I knew because they told me themselves, silly girl..." The man stood up, heaving the mysterious weapon, which turned out to be a giant sword that looked to weight over twenty pounds, over the couch and pointed it at her with ease. "And now, to avenge my fallen men and to stop you from freeing our bargaining chip...I, the second mate of the Claw Pirates, with the epithet of "The Warden", Kalvin, will defeat you and your friends...if my captain does not beat me to it."

There was a pause, with the two fighters glaring at each other, and then suddenly Kalvin was hitting Sekai across the room with the blunt side of his sword. She landed on a pile of crates, which bended and collapsed under the force of her impact. She groaned and just as she opened her eyes, there was a meaty hand around her throat and it was raising her out of the crate's ruins.

She lost her grip on her maces and, due to her constant lack of breath and her being raised into the air, she gripped her captor's hands and struggled as much as she could.

"I've caught a little mouse..." Kalvin said superiorly, and sadistically, while gripping Sekai's neck harder and making Sekai's vision swim quickly in and out of focus. She felt the jailer's sword tip press into her chest. "Looks like I'll have to exterminate the problem..."

"Oh...shut up, fucker..." Sekai managed to spit out around the man's meaty fingers. Kalvin frowned.

As if to punish her for insulting him, the second mate threw Sekai across the room and, thankfully she landed on a couch. Unthankfully, due to her speed, she hit said couch so hard that it flipped onto its back. She struggled to breath, then groaned and picked herself up, body aching all over.

Then, once her mind was flowing properly along with the oxygen in her body, she noticed that her weapons were across the room and behind her opponent.

"For that, little girl, I will give you a quick death." Kalvin said darkly. He glared at Sekai with such ferocity that, if looks could kill, she was sure she would be dead.

As her opponent charged, Sekai dived under him as he crashed into the wall, hoping to avoid injury from his deadly sword; thanks to the angle he held it at, however, the tip was still able to create a long, deep gash down her back. She bit her lip as to stop from crying out.

Sekai sprang up as Kalvin stood up, shaking his head from where it had hit the wall. She sprinted as fast as she could to her weapons, and managed to get a good hold on Glorious before she felt a sharp sword sink deep into her leg. Screaming, she hefted her trusty mace around in a wide arc and managed to hit something: Kalvin's already damaged head.

The bigger man went flying, taking his bloodied sword with him and out of Sekai's leg. She cried out, but not in pain, in surprise. She had not expected to hit Kalvin, just make him back off.

Watching the slumped form for a minute or two timidly, Sekai waited for her opponent to raise himself from the bookshelf from which he'd landed. He did not rise, however, which was a signal to Sekai that he was unconscious.

"I...won...!" Sekai murmured to herself. Then, more loudly. "I fucking won!"

She laughed happily and, seemingly to notice what Kalvin had dropped in front of her, abruptly stopped. She picked the strange device up. The device was basically a black rectangle. It had one button, and upon turning said device over, Sekai found writing on the back that labeled it "Master Jail Unlock".

Well this was convenient...she pocketed the device after pressing the button, knowing that her first objective was complete, and started to stand up. She failed, however, and fell back down in pain and with lots of blood pouring from her leg.

Had she sprained a muscle or something? No...no, now she remembered. "The Warden" had jabbed his thick sword into her leg as she'd swung her mace at his head, and she had forgotten in the victorious moment that she'd realized she had won. Sekai frowned, wondering what to do...then, she remembered that Jeremy had once taught her how to deal with something like this. She had to stop the blood!

She rolled over onto her belly and scooted herself over to the nearest crate that had taken damage from the fight. Grinding her teeth in an attempt to fight through the pain, she used the broken wood to get onto her feet and look inside the crate. Luckily, this crate was filled with what looked to be blankets.

She grabbed one of the blankets and tore some of it into a long strip, then used it to wrap around her leg in a makeshift bandage. It was messy, there was still blood coming from her leg, but it would have to do for now-she needed to find Kai and Raion, since the prisoners had been freed by the button she'd found on Kalvin.

So, still grinding her teeth in pain, she (barely) limped over to her maces and picked them up. She stood for a bit, getting her bandaged leg used to the weight of Gloria, then started for the room's entrance, intent on locating the only two pirates she cared about. She knew for a fact that Jeremy had gotten the

* * *

 _Hello everyone, and welcome back! I apologize for this fight scene, I'm not very good at writing violence...I hope you guys like it though!_

 _I have final exams for the next three days so, sadly, I will have to extend my single-chapter posting for another week. I hope to end it once my winter break starts!_

 _Lastly, thank you so much to_ **marshman101** _for reviewing! It made me very happy to know that they liked it. So thanks to marshman!_

 _Thanks for reading everybody, I'll see you next week~_


	9. Episode 9: Raion and the First Mate

_Episode Nine: Kai Captured?! Raion and the First Mate_

 **Ten minutes earlier...**

"Raion, if we find anyone besides the captain along the way, I want you to deal with them quickly and efficiently, then continue forwards after that. I'll go straight through. That okay?"

Raion glanced over at his captain, whom was running alongside him, slightly behind the taller man. "Fine by me, captain. I'm assuming you're going after the Claw captain?"

"You've got that right."

Raion hummed deep in his throat. He was starting to feel the telltale tightness in his chest that would tell him to stop running lest he fall victim to his eternal weakness. That reminded him, he needed to tell Kai of his asthma.

"Hey Kai-"

"Wait." Kai suddenly stopped running, barely breathing hard. Raion stopped soon after, looking over at his captain questioningly. Kai didn't seem to notice how Raion was subtly gasping for precious air. "I heard voices."

His captain started quickly stripping off his cloak. Raion had a sudden flashback to when the duo had originally fought, back on Mazraea Island.

Kai shot forward as a man came at them, bisento raised and ready for the kill. Kai darted up to the guy and jumped on top of his head, and using it as a springboard to get to the next guy. He landed on his head, and used the momentum to spring to the next attacker. This process continued until Kai was out of Raion's sight.

Raion quickly sliced through the measly subordinates and continued onwards, but was halted by a stitch in his calf. Or, what he thought was a stitch.

"Halt, intruder!" A tiny voice yelled. Raion, inspecting his leg, found a tiny dart that was covered in his blood, but didn't seem to be coated with anything. He threw it to the side as he searched for the owner of the voice. "How dare you take out my nakama so easily!"

Raion rolled his eyes at that. "If you don't want your nakama to get taken out so easily, then you should get stronger nakama."

Suddenly a tiny bear leapt out of the shadows and pointed a cylinder blow tube at Raion. "You take that back, human!"

"Human?" Raion seemed insulted by being called such a being. He smiled evilly. "I'd prefer you call me a demon."

"Human you are!" The little bear cried. Raion glared down at the fluffy creature.

"What do you want?" Raion asked acidicly, practically glaring a hole into the bear's body.

"I am the first mate of the Claw Pirates! Fear me human, for my name is Iamo!"

Raion smirked at that, while the little bear seemed thrown off by his lack fear, or at least wariness. "That's perfect. I'm the first mate of my own crew, The Aqua Pirates. Name's Raion."

The little bear's eyes narrowed. "The Golden Mercenary has become a pirate?"

Raion shrugged lazily. "Find out for yourself."

The little bear laughed to himself, and then talked in a voice so quiet, Raion almost didn't hear it. "By now your captain is falling right into our Captain's trap, and then he and you will be at our mercy..."

Raion's eyes widened. "What did you just say!"

Iamo's eyes laughibly widened. "Curses, you heard me! How- no, there is no choice! I must defeat you and deliver you to the Captain!"

Millions of thoughts were flying through Raions head: battle strategies, what tactic these pirates were taking, how strong Kai was... But he knew that his captain was strong, just not how strong these people were...

No matter what, Raion had to finish this quickly and find his captain, no matter what.

"Come and make me, little bear."

%•%•%•%

Kai was running blindly through the twists and turns of the cave's tunnel system, which was extremely more complicated than it seemed to the casual observer. He'd come to dead ends about three times already, and he was starting to get shortness of breath.

After another ten minutes of running and then jogging, along with two more dead ends and backtracks, Kai finally stops to catch his breath.

"Goddamn tunnels..." He muttered while he pulled on the wrists on both of his gloves, bringing them tighter around his fingers. He shivered as he felt a draft from the tunnels around him. He rubbed his bare arms, cursing himself for already shedding his nice, warm cloak.

He started walking. He had been going in one direction, and without knowing it himself, got turned around and somehow made it back to a crossroads he recognized, but didn't know from when. He frowned. Had he really already forgotten? He went the opposite way of where he'd gone before, but didn't get very far before he felt a presence in the cave with him.

Or, more accurately, multiple presences.

He quickly turned around and got met with a punch. Kai got knocked into a wall and, before he could react, was met with another punch to the gut. His reactionary response was to double over and, while he was weak, something solid came down twice on his head-one obviously intended to knock him out, and the second to knock him to the floor. He fell to the floor unceremoniously.

However, Kai, while dazed, was not knocked out. He flailed as hands descended to grabs his arms, body, and legs. Grunts emitted from all around him as his flailing limbs made contact with the people attacking him.

"Damn, he's putting up a fight. Someone subdue him!" A burly voice grouched.

"Should I drug him or no?" A younger voice asked, sounding pained. Kai guessed he'd kicked him. His eyes, however, widened once he heard the word drug and started struggling with renewed vigor.

Kai wasn't going to talk to them. He wasn't going to beg. _I'll get you to **beg** to let me back as your first mate_ , a voice from his past called.

"Captain just wants him alive..." Kai's panic increased as he started thrashing with all of his might, and he attempted to get his hands together so he could strip off his gloves. "Hold him still."

Multiple more hands and elbows joined the task of holding him still, and after only a couple seconds, the most he could do was roll his head to and fro. As he glared up and around and wherever his head moved, since it was too dark to tell where his attackers were, someone stuffed a sweet-smelling cloth over his mouth. With no choice but to inhale it, Kai breathed the mysterious smell in and was lifted from unconsciousness by the same voice from his past. As he fought to stay awake, he fought the voice, too.

 _Goodnight, Captain... I'll be on watch tonight, and if you need anything, come find me, alright? Sweet dreams..._

No, if you go on watch, the crew will be-

 _I was on watch tonight, Captain...you weren't supposed to see this until I was long gone..._

Don't give me that, where are they-?!

 _Don't blame me for the mistakes you yourself made, Captain...I'm a first mate, not a babysitter!..._

It's your fault not mine-!

 _I can't believe it took the entire crew being decimated...you realized how horrid a Captain you are..._

Kai, having finally succumbed to the drug on the cloth, fell into fitful dreams that centered around a little boat sailing on a sea to the South with two boys, one with pretty blue hair and the other with shaggy black, sailing on it to achieve their dreams.

%•%•%•%

Kai awoke to a pounding headache. Groaning, he attempted to remember what had happened before he had gone to sleep. Then, he remembered the tunnels, the attackers, that mysteriously-sweet cloth-he had been captured. He strained his earns and all he could hear was a crackling sound with a pop every so often.

Cautiously, Kai cracked open one eye and was met with a concrete brick wall not three feet from his face. Confusedly, Kai opened his other eye and sat up, and while he sat up he noticed that there was a pair of shackles on both his wrists and his ankles. His wrists were connected together, and each of his ankles were connected by long chains to the wall.

Kai looked down at himself and noticed he was in different clothes than he had been before he was knocked out. While before he was wearing jeans and a ratty blue teeshirt, along with his gloves, he was now wearing black slacks that were a bit too tight for him, and a comfortable, white wool sweater that was also a bit tight on him. His feet were bare, as were his hands, and Kai absently wondered where his boots, gloves and clothes had gone. Especially his gloves, those were expensive!

Frowning, Kai took one glance around and noticed he was in a cage. Two walls of the cage were the corner of the concrete brick room and the other two walls of the cage were iron bars with one door. Said door had a giant padlock, as big as Kai's fist, on it to keep him inside the cage.

His cage was the only one in the room, however, was what he noticed as he looked around the room. There was a comfortable-looking couch facing the cage, and another one facing a large bookshelf that encompassed an entire half of the room. There was a hearth with a fire in it that was happily blazing away.

 _That must have been the crackling sound I heard earlier..._ Kai thought to himself, standing up and looking around. He could easily escape, since his handcuffs weren't made of seastone and his but...did he want to? If he stayed and acted like he couldn't escape without help, he could figure out who had captured him!

Though it was probably either the Claw Captain, or one of his henchmen.

Kai sighed, and started walking around his caged-in area. He could walk almost to the bars before the resistance from his ankle shackles prevented him from moving forward more. His wrist shackles, which hung in front of his body and had about a foot length of rope between them, clanked as he moved and he was starting to hate the noise. How much longer would this damned captain take?

His question was answered when a Transponder Snail, located on the couch facing him, woke up with a "ka-cha".

"So I see you're awake, mysterious intruder." A garbled voice said through the pink snail. Kai frowned. He then noticed a second Snail that was intently staring at him-a visual Snail that was probably showing his movements to whoever was talking.

"Are you Cleever?" Kai asked directly. To the point, just his style.

"Ah well, you've caught me. I'll be down there in a minute, freckle-boy. I need to take you up on the matter of harming my dear nakama and setting my bargaining chips free."

Bargaining chips...? "And if I refuse?"

"Are you dense enough to think you are in a position to bargain with _me_ at the moment?" There was a loud, barking laugh. It was eerily similar to a dog's. "We'll see about that, water-boy!"

The Snail that had been talking closed its eyes with another "ka-cha", and fell back to sleep. The visual Snail continued staring at him, and it was starting to make Kai feel uneasy. Or maybe he was feeling uneasy about the last nickname the other pirate had called him.

Did Cleever already know that Kai's Devil Fruit power was water, or was he just lucky? Either way, Kai knew that it was no good.

* * *

 _Let me just say this... Personal stuff happened, writer's block happened, and then my winter sport of choice started up and it was all a lot to do at once, let alone write this story. So, I'm sorry, and truly so. Starting today I'll go back to posting a chapter per week, despite what I've said before about bringing back the biweekly or triweekly schedule. I'm just too dang busy!_

 _Well anyway, thank you all for your continued support for this story. It really does make me happy to know that somebody besides me is out there, enjoying my writing as much as me. So thank you!_

 _Next week is a fight scene! Raion vs. Iamo, who's excited? I've already got a basic idea for what the fight's going to be like, so look forward to it!_

 _Until then, I bid thee,_ Adieu _!_


End file.
